The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 1,095 Lassa fever cases across 113 Local Government Areas in 28 states.
The NCDC revealed this in its Lassa Fever situation report for week 41 (October 9 -15, 2023), released on Tuesday, Punch reports.
Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness caused by the Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses.
Humans usually become infected with the Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated with the urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa.
Lassa fever remains a major public health challenge as poor environmental sanitation, poor awareness, and late presentation of cases are reported to fuel the epidemic in Nigeria.
The NCDC said the suspected cases are now 7,724 and that the disease has killed no fewer than 188 persons in the country.
With the current death toll, the agency noted that the case-fatality ratio of the outbreak stood at 17.2 per cent.
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